Who Gets to Shape AI Governance? Youth, the Global South, and the Future of Digital Power
Young AI Leaders - San Francisco
Session 283
Everyone agrees that youth should have a role in AI governance. Far fewer can say where youth actually sit in it today. This youth-led session answers that question directly. Through the Young AI Leaders (YAIL) community, the AI for Good youth network convened under the ITU, this youth-led session makes the case that the grassroots work young people do can serve as a platform where AI governance can be actualized in practice. It can be where governance actually gets implemented.
We want to show what youth already build and teach through a example of YAIL youth-led project and a working hub training model, then bridge to the questions that matter most for their generation. As a new industry of AI grows, the growing human data labor behind the scenes, and uncertainties about the future of work for young generations, the question of who benefits and who bears the risk becomes urgent.
Our three speakers bring complementary vantage points. Cristian Casanova, Data and AI Strategy Advisor and San Francisco Lead for Young AI Leaders, frames where youth sit across the landscape and the work YAIL is doing to widen that role. Emmanuelle Charghinoff, Young Leader of the AI for Good Paris Hub and a specialist in AI and digital law, brings the on the ground reality of building youth capacity. Tiffany Saade, who works in AI security policy and advises at the national level, brings the governance and power lens of how rules get made, who gets left out, and what meaningful influence would require.
Speakers: Cristian Casanova, moderator (Young Leader, AI for Good San Francisco Hub); Emmanuelle Charghinoff (Young Leader, AI for Good Paris Hub); Tiffany Saade (AI Security Policy, Cisco; advisor on AI policy).
Cristian Casanova is a Data & AI Strategy Advisor working at the intersection of artificial intelligence, policy, and social impact. He helps organizations modernize their data ecosystems, strengthen AI policy, and adopt responsible AI to create measurable impact across global health, sustainability, and international development.
Cristian serves as the San Francisco Lead for Young AI Leaders, the AI for Good youth community convened under the ITU. His experience spans healthcare, clean energy, EV manufacturing, utilities, and mining, working with NGOs, multilateral agencies, philanthropic foundations, and corporate leaders to apply data and AI to complex global challenges. He specializes in cloud transformation, AI-driven insights, sustainability-focused data strategies, and responsible AI frameworks that drive long-term change. He has spoken at the WSIS Forum and taken part in the India AI Impact Summit, contributing to global conversations on inclusive, responsible AI and championing youth participation in the institutions setting the rules for emerging technology.
Cristian holds Bachelors in Science from Illinois State University and a dual Masters degree in Health Informatics and Masters in Public Policy from the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor, grounding his work in global health systems, social impact, and economic development.
Emmanuelle serves as the Young AI Leaders Paris Hub Lead for AI for Good and currently works in a think tank focused on AI and new technologies. With a multidisciplinary background in STEM, economics and law, she brings a broad perspective to AI regulation, data privacy, intellectual property and the ethics of innovation. She completed an LLM in AI and Digital Law at the Catholic University of Paris and Cardozo School of Law in New York and studied Critical philosophy of innovation at ESSEC Business School. With extensive experience in the legal field, Emmanuelle is deeply committed to contributing to the responsible regulation and application of AI technologies.
Her advocacy journey began with UNICEF, where she served as a Young UNICEF Ambassador for several years. During this time, she participated in global events, including the J7 Summit in Berlin, where she contributed to discussions and prepared input for Angela Merkel. She also advocated for climate action at the French Embassy in Germany as part of her work on sustainability and environmental issues. Her contributions with UNICEF covered a broad spectrum of topics, from children’s rights to climate change, reflecting her dedication to addressing complex global challenges.
In today’s rapidly evolving digital era, Emmanuelle is passionate about raising awareness of AI law and its connection to the SDGs across generations, especially among young people. Through her leadership and expertise, Emmanuelle aspires to help shape a future where innovation aligns with ethical principles and contributes to a more inclusive and sustainable world.
Tiffany Saadé works at the intersection of AI, cybersecurity, and policymaking across the private and public sectors—focused on how bad actors misuse AI models for offensive cyber operations, how to protect models against that misuse, and how to embed AI into cyber defenses to harden critical infrastructure.
She is currently at Cisco as a Product Manager and Threat Intel for AI Defense. Her work includes model-misuse threat mapping, LLM red-teaming and evaluation, secure-by-design controls for AI features. Tiffany earned her Master’s in Cyber Policy & Security from Stanford, specializing in AI governance, privacy, and national security, and she TAs Alex Stamos’s cybersecurity course.
Tiffany has published 18+ reports and analytical pieces on AI security and cybersecurity, bridging technical risk and policy frameworks. She serves as an advisor on AI governance and cybersecurity to Lebanon’s Ministry of Information Technology and Artificial Intelligence, contributing to the country’s first national AI strategy and capacity-building. In recognition of her contributions, she was granted a U.S. O-1A visa for individuals of extraordinary ability in science and business, specifically for advancing AI security and cyber policy.
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C1. The role of governments and all stakeholders in the promotion of ICTs for development
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C7. ICT applications: benefits in all aspects of life — E-learning
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C10. Ethical dimensions of the Information Society
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C11. International and regional cooperation
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Goal 4: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
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Goal 9: Build resilient infrastructure, promote sustainable industrialization and foster innovation
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Goal 10: Reduce inequality within and among countries
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Goal 16: Promote just, peaceful and inclusive societies
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Goal 17: Revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development
This session treats AI capacity as a development enabler and youth as agents of it, not merely beneficiaries — directly supporting the 2030 Agenda. The AI literacy and training delivered through YAIL's regional hubs build human capital where it is scarcest, advancing quality education and inclusive innovation (SDG 4, SDG 9). The session's central focus — who actually shapes AI governance — addresses the structural inequalities that determine who benefits from digital transformation and who bears its risks, reinforcing reduced inequalities and inclusive, accountable institutions (SDG 10, SDG 16). By converting the conversation into concrete partnerships between a youth network and the operators and NGOs in the room, it strengthens the multistakeholder collaboration on which SDG delivery depends (SDG 17). In doing so, the session reinforces the link between digital cooperation and sustainable development championed across the WSIS process and the Global Digital Compact: ensuring AI is governed inclusively so its benefits reach developing regions and underrepresented communities rather than widening existing divides. It positions youth-led, locally grounded AI capacity and governance as a driver of the sustainable development process, not a distraction from it.
- Objective 3: Foster an inclusive, open, safe and secure digital space that respects, protects and promotes human rights
- Objective 4: Advance responsible, equitable and interoperable data governance approaches
- Objective 5: Enhance international governance of artificial intelligence for the benefit of humanity